Our abilities and talents are not limited but need to be developed, so that we don’t turn our life into a downward spiral.
John was born in the sixties of the twentieth century at the height of the Cold War, when the prevailing stereotypes about his father’s homeland were purely negative, so that Russia (the USSR at the time) was considered an evil empire and Russians the enemies of America.
Evgenia Kalachikhina
It was not until later that I realized it was a clear miracle and the mercy of God.
Fr. Nicholas Esterhuisen
We conduct services in English and Church Slavonic, but we also try to add other languages, such as Xhosa and Afrikaans. This way, everyone will hear their native language during the service and realize that Orthodoxy is their faith as well.
Peter Davydov
And here I saw sincere smiles, respect for your freedom and an unobtrusive desire and ability to help others. That’s how I saw that Christ was here.
At the service I got frightened, unable to understand where I was—at home in Mongolia or in Heaven.
Nun Natalia (Kaverzneva)
He turned towards the tree-lined walkway leading to the church, rushed down the space between the gates and the entrance of the church, ran up the stairs towards the front door, grabbed the door handle, pulled... and it didn’t open.
Timotheos of Assos, assistant bishop of the Holy Metropolis of Mexico in Colombia and Venezuela, travels from Caracas to Bogota to spread the gospel.
Jesse Dominick
“This is what’s basically saved me,” Stevenson said about his path over the past three years.
Jozef Van den Berg converted to Orthodox Christianity a year later, after paying visits to Elder Sophrony in Essex, Elder Porphyrios in Athens and Elder Paisos in Mount Athos.
Fr. Silouan (Brown)
And before doing anything I would always think: “What will I say at Confession? How will I tell this to Christ?”
Fr. Roman Kunen
Fr. Roman Kunen is the acting rector of the Church of the holy Martyr Zinaida in Rio de Janeiro of the Diocese of Argentina and South America of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, and also an assistant judge. He spoke with us about how tendinitis helped him convert to Orthodoxy, how Brazilians keep fasts, social networks as a means of preaching Christ and what places are worth visiting in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
Archpriest Gregorio Justiniano
Before my ordination I told him, “Vladyka, I want to warn you that if you ordain me, my heart will stay in my native country, and when I retire from my secular work, I will return to Puerto Rico. If you want to keep me in the United States, don’t ordain me.”
I wept so much that my glasses were very wet. It was a mixture of happiness and holiness—exactly what I had been looking for for a long time.
Irina Krikheli
How sometimes bizarre and strange are the intricacies of destiny that guide you through seemingly unbearable trials!
Irina Dmitrieva
The guards rushed out of the hall. No one was there. Except for the woman, her head covered with a modest headdress: she was humbly praying the Jesus Prayer.
Maria Minaeva
Every meeting with the Great Lion in the Chronicles of Narnia is always a real event. The characters remember them forever and even change their way of life. Sometimes a short dialogue with Aslan reveals things that are not obvious at first glance, but are extremely important.
Irina Khudyakova
Both at work and at home, “Pinochet” reigned in an absolute monarchy.
"You know, I want to go to Him. Never mind that I stink—I want to talk to Him."
Kyrylo Myazha
The grace of God has continued to shine forth from Orthodox Georgia as it has helped to nurture not only the Georgian people but foreigners from around the world who have been adopted into this great spiritual land.